New Philly Followup

As a member of the 2005 New Philadelphia Field School I was very excited to see the episode and all of the new developments taking place at the site. My team was on the quest of locating the schoolhouse the summer I worked at New Philadelphia, and I had my fingers crossed that Time Team America would find what we could not. Still no luck - maybe next year!

I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed watching...very interesting...looking forward to learning more about the site and what was found!

Tonight's episode was the best yet. The archaeology was solid. Great job!

Awesome show. I still love watching the original Time Team so I was very excited as an 19th century US historian to hear you were doing New Philadelphia. It is such a unique place in so many ways.

Further success to your show, I hope it continues for many years to come. I also hope that you will venture outside the USA from time to time to visit sites in Canada and Mexico which also have great archeological significance.

Thank you once again,
Jonathan

I have watched the "New Philadelphia" episode of Time Team America and would like to know if a site in Central Pennsylivania is worthy of research. The site is of the Oppenheimer (pronounced locally the old way with a long "O") iron mine works. It may be viewed roughly on google earth at 151 Camp Ranch Lane, 15522. It is extensive, but forgotten, and dates from 1884.
I own the property and know it well. As I watched the Philadelphia episode, I thought that the site I know of would be so much more productive and yet equally unknown. Please let me know if there is anyone who would be willing to correspond with me on this matter.
Frank Antonson

I loved this episode. It was rather reminiscent of the British version in its execution and layout. Great job! I missed it off of my local PBS, since they were broadcasting the President's press conference, so I just watched it online.
What software program was used in the 3D reconstruction of the school? I would like to learn how to do something like that.

As vice president of the New Philadelphia Association, I just want to express our immense thanks for a marvelous depiction of Frank McWorter's life story and of the work of the Field School. A truly well-edited and comprehensive presentation.

I watch the episode about the New Philadelphia Project last night and enjoyed it very much. I was impressed with the results obtained with the ground penetrating radar and the resistance detection.

A few years ago I was contacted by the University of Missouri Archeology Dept. to assist on a site of an Osage Indian village in my area. They wanted to try using metal detectors to see how well it would detect the concentrations of small metal objects that were known to be on the site (pieces of iron pots and other trade iron items). It worked very well as I was able to pinpoint several areas where there were numerous items and so helped to know where to lay out their dig sites.

I think that this might work on the New Philadelphia Project as you would be able to find the concentration of nails and other metallic objects too small for the larger machines such as the ground penetrating radar and resistance machines to pick up and a good operator familiar with their machine can give you a pretty good idea of what is causing the signal without digging.

Thanks, Dick Webb

Thanks for the kind comments Frank, filming archaeology as it happens is no easy task, and I think it's important to show the reality of what can happen- ie you don't always find what your looking for. The shows are being broadcast in the order they were shot and I think you will see that the programs get better and better as everyone became tuned in to what was required. In next weeks show at Range Creek, we even have a go at attempting to recreate some ancient technology, an element that has always been an important part of the UK series.
Hope you enjoy the rest of the series.
Graham Dixon- Series Producer Time Team America.

I notice that Tim Taylor's name is listed in the end credits. Isn't he also involved in the UK Time Team?

In my mind, the New Philadelphia episode drives home just how young our Country's history is. I guess you could say it is all modern history (unless you are talking about pre/Clovis and such).

I found it very humorous that we seive every cubic inch of dirt and the Brits just doze through whatever layers are above what they are hoping to find.

Is plowing the only reason for the archeology from 160 years ago to be so far down in the ground? I live in the rural South and there are many buildings, standing and collapsed, from that time period which seems to me should be half covered with earth and grass based on the site on the program. :)

Is Meg expecting? Gosh I hope so, if she is not, I do not mean to offend. Her belly is precious. I was a little concerned about her pulling that machinery around. I'm sure if she is carrying, she is closely monitored by her baby doctor.

In the US, people prounounce the english language differently ~ regionally and ethnically. I get the impression from Colin that he is honored to be the host of such a special program. I couldn't care less how he pronounces 'ex' vs. 'es'.

~BJ

I was so excited to see finally see Time Team on TV, since the schedules posted on the PBS site hadn't actually lined up with what was actually playing. To make it even more worthwhile, I was a student of the 2006 field school season and was excited by all the new developments and finds. It definitely made me feel nostalgic about the whole experience- and it made me miss digging.

Hi Bobbie, thank you for the comments.
I am absolutely honored to be part of Time Team. It's an amazing group of people, both in front of the cameras and behind them, and as the host and artist I get to absorb so much. It's just my job to make sure all that information I'm receiving is getting out to the audience, as well!
I smiled at your mentioning of ex vs es - probably in regards to how I've pronounced excavation a couple of times. It's amazing what you don't realize you say until this many people spend a few hours listening to you talk! I believe we nipped that habit in the bud after a few episodes, or at least here's hoping.
And Meg was expecting! She has a beautiful little girl now. There's a wonderful news story written about it you can find on the TTA facebook page.
Many thanks for watching!
-Colin

Does anyone know where you would get a magnetometer like the one used? I understand it was a flux-gate magnetometer, model FM 36.

I saw on the episode you had a dig with three post
pattern in a triangle and were trying to figgure out what it could of been, Just a thought but Im from rural mississippi and the pattern you uncovered is most commomly used for ounting of a sugar cane mill I have some pictures and links of mills set up on the three post mounts if you send me a e-mail address I will send them, if you are interested thanks

Hi Bobbie,
As Colin mentioned, I was pregnant! The first show in North Carolina I was 5 months and the final shoot I was 8 months pregnant. Needless to say, I did begin to slow down around the time of New Philadelphia, I was so fortunate to have Bryan Haley as my geophysics partner. His strong back got us through all of the heavy lifting and hours of data collection!

Being pregnant was great while in the field, as the work took my mind off of my growing belly, I hardly noticed I was pregnant. But, rest assured, all was under strict supervision of my Dr. and for the Range Creek program and our remote!! camp and work site, we had all of the emergency evacuation information figured out.

I did learn to really slow down at Range Creek as the hike up the hill to the site in a gazillion degrees was a killer! But the camping was fantastic, I've done a lot in the past with the Girl Scouts so was more than prepared for a week in a tent. They did spoil me though with a cot, so I had a couple of inches start in the morning when hoisting myself out of bed!

My daughter was born in October and I am so happy that I will be able to share our experience of the first season of Time Team America with her.
- Meg

Frank,
I am glad to hear of someone who appreciates and wnats to preserve an archaeological site on their property. Unfortunately, doing archaeology right can take a lot fo time and money, and there are few people who are willing to do it for free. I do it for a living!
I would recommend three steps to take. First, get your site registered with the state. for Pennsylvania, try the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission website, under archaeology, then everyone, then recording sites:
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/everyone/2058/recording_sites/428922
Second, try contactingnearby universities to see if there is an archaeologist interested in running a field school there (usually a summer course teaching excavation and lab methods). This could take time, getting to know people and getting them interested in your site.
Third, you could try the same process with the local archaeological society. In PA, that would be the nearest chapter of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, listed on their website at: http://www.pennsylvaniaarchaeology.com/Chapters.html
Finally, if you decide to do some digging yourself, please KEEP RECORDS. Keep artifacts that you find in one type of soil or fill separate from artifacts you find in another kind of soil below it or next to it. Take measurements of how deep you have excavated, and do a sketch map of the area. Excavating a site is basically a process of destroying it, so the records you keep are the only way someone will be able to interpret the site later.
Good luck, and feel free to contact me if you want by email at diamanti@ahcinc.biz

Dear Dave,

The instrument we used at New Philadelphia was the Bartington Grag601 fluxgate gradiometer. I would contact the manufacturer or local US rep to see if they would have any leads on used kit.

http://www.bartington.com/products/Grad601singleaxisgradiometer.cfm

If you do find one on the market make sure to check the serial number with the manufacturer to make sure it is not stolen.

We also use the Geoscan FM36 and Foerster fluxgate gradiometers on other programs with Time Team America, keep tuned in to see some of the different kit in action (Range Creek is the Bartington again and Ft. James, the final show, uses the Foerster).
- Meg

As we watched this episode on our local PBS, I was very interested in the family tree that the descendants had worked up. So after the episode was over, I hied myself to the computer & found the progenitors of the family on the 1850 census. It said the father was born in South Carolina & a mulatto. I had commented that I suspected as much as we watched the interview with the descendants. We're very proud that they have made such great efforts to preserve & carry forward their ancestor's dreams for his family.
Thanks for a very interesting way to study history!

It's too bad and frustratingly inconsistent that some Time Team programs are available overseas while others are not.